We’ve established that blogging is an effective tool for PR and all other aspects of business communication. My last post even highlighted the role blogs are playing in censored countries to give the silenced a voice and encourage activism for positive change. Today I’m focusing on the oh-so-tangled web of online communication sources. In other words, the interrelationship between online journalists, corporate communications and public relations professionals, and the blogging community continues to prove mutually beneficial for all parties involved. For example, if a PR professional desires to establish and maintain effective media relations skills, most journalists have no problem telling what they look for…in their blogs of course.
I first ventured to Allbusiness.com (www.allbusiness.com), “expert advice from business bloggers,” and gathered advice from Nettie Hartsock, an e-business journalist and “PR marathoner,” as well as the business advisor for the blog Professional PR. Some of her advice for PR professionals trying to establish solid pitches for their clients includes:
Get over the taboo of calling a journalist. While most now prefer pitches by e-mail, a follow-up phone call is advisable. Also, the subject line must be compelling and to the point.
“Press releases are not meant to be tricky.” Enough with the unneeded extravagance. Press releases need to be “plain-spoken and clear with a good news hook.”
Build your “outreach lists” every year.
Don’t forget the freelancers! If you do, well, it’s your loss. Some are exceptional writers who contribute to the likes of Fortune and Fast Company, if you read a great article and the author isn’t mentioned in the masthead, they’re freelance.
To close, the Bad Pitch Blog featured a great reference from a technology blog called Valleywag. In this particular post, several tech reporters offered their two-cents to PR professionals. Dan Clark of the Wall Street Journal says “Don’t be shy about pitching a story that may have nothing to do with one of your clients, but you just think is an interesting story that we’re missing…that’s a good way to build a relationship with a reporter.”
Mike Mashick of Techdirt agrees, “Point me to stories that have something interesting we can stake an opinion on.”
“Be rare, relevant and short,” says Andreas Kluth of The Economist.
Kevin Maney of USA Today says “I work best in relationships.” He goes on to say that he’d rather have one individual to turn to per agency, not four, five or six different people.
And Mike Arrington of TechCrunch puts it bluntly, “I’ll make time for people who will help me be successful in the future. It’s that simple.”
So it is.
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